Dev shook his head to indicate that he had not, but Reed nodded knowingly. “When I was a kid, my grandmother insisted I go to church. That also meant Bible study. So yeah, I’ve heard of ’em. What’s that got to do with the creators of robot golems? Or golem robots.”

Zimmer turned thoughtful. “The ten tribes were exiled from their homes by the Assyrians, circa 722 BCE. According to Isaiah 49:9, ‘Say to the prisoners go forth’—these are those exiled beyond the Sambatyon River.” He leaned toward his younger companions who, though more than a little bemused, were now listening intently. “That information is then followed by this: ‘To them that are in darkness, show yourselves.’ According to the pair of responsive mechanicals with whom I spoke, that passage refers to a sizable group of the exiles who were hiding from a descending spacecraft.” He waved a hand for emphasis. “Forget about those who speculate that Ezekiel’s wheel was a spacecraft. These references are much more specific.”

Hard as it was to believe any of what the scientist was saying, Dev found himself caught up in the tale. “Let us say that there is something to what you were told.”

Zimmer pursed his lips. “What reason would an alien mechanical have to lie? Much less to invent such a tale for a few humans formerly held captive on one of their own vessels.”

For the moment, Dev chose to ignore the riposte. “Okay then. History is not filled in and remains full of large gaps. Unlikely as it sounds, let us say for the moment that the mechanicals you were querying were actually relating historical truth or something resembling truth. According to what you were told, a bunch of displaced Israelites were visited by an alien craft.” He spread his hands to indicate their surroundings. “What does that have to do with all this? And with the robots themselves? Other than the use of an ancient language, how does it relate”

Zimmer continued. “Isaiah goes on. ‘These are those upon whom the cloud descended and covered.’ According to the mechanicals, the writer—or in this instance, the reporter—is talking about a number of the exiles being taken aboard the alien ship. Then we get, from Isaiah, ‘They shall feed in the ways and in all the high places their pastures.’ We’re being told that not only is this group of exiles going to receive the aliens’ knowledge—that’s the ‘feed in the ways’ part—but that they’re being taken to new worlds.” He let his companions absorb that before adding, “Right about this time there are two tribes that vanish from history altogether, and from records of the ten lost tribes. The tribes were called Reuben and Gad. And one more thing.”

“Good thing my grandmother isn’t around to hear this,” Reed murmured. “Where the Bible was concerned, she was pretty big on inerrancy.”